Bluebird

With a plum Chelsea location and plenty of space on the street-level terrace and first-floor restaurant, Bluebird keeps it simple to woo the King’s Road set with a please-all menu of globe-spanning flavours, lighter bites at the adjacent Bluebird Café and a large horseshoe bar. Following a refurbishment in autumn 2016, the sprawling dining room is a mishmash of styles – patterned fabrics and blue and brown leather ­­– beneath rusty-red girders and a large skylight. Diners share a collection of smaller options, or go for a traditional three-course meal. Our salad of crispy duck was piled with chewy nuggets of flesh and drizzled with a well-matched maple dressing, but a hefty Galician steak for two was too chewy and fatty for the price. Overall prices are reasonable and pescatarians are particularly well catered for. The staff are on-point and swift, while only the pickiest oenophile will struggle to find a wine on the lengthy list. 

One of the D&D group's more relaxed, family-friendly ventures, Bluebird is a spacious neighbourhood restaurant on the King's Road with a large outdoor terrace. Boasting a more chilled-out café and courtyard on the ground floor and a more refined restaurant and bar on the first floor, this is the perfect setting for almost any type of gathering.

Bluebird's restaurant offers a delightful range of modern European dishes, with enough choice to suit any palate. Starters dart around the continent and further afield, from caviar blinis with creme fraiche and chives, beef tartare and duck liver terrine to Brindisa Iberico Paleta, to burrata with Panzanella salad, to crispy duck salad with Chinese leaf and Thai dressing. Mains similarly celebrate a breadth of cuisines. Highlights include Kerala monkfish curry with rice and chapatis, lobster spaghetti, halibut with roasted salsify, salty fingers and brown butter hollandaise, lamb rump with bbq carrot purée, yoghurt, sumac and lovage oil or aged British grass-fed sirloin with onion purée, bone marrow and triple cooked chips. Guests can add the likes of charred hispi cabbage or truffle mash, as well as sauces such as peppercorn, bone marrow or smoked mayonnaise. 

For a more casual visit, there is also a weekend brunch menu, offering classics like eggs Benedict, Florentine or Royal, French toast with streaky bacon, wild blueberries and whipped creme fraiche, or dill-cured Loch Duart salmon with mustard and Danish rye bread. These actually appear as starters rather than simply breakfast options, and are followed by similar mains to the a la carte menu, with the addition of a bone marrow beef burger with cheddar, caramelised onions and chips. Sunday lunch is also available, offering either 40-day aged sirloin or Gloucester Old Spot pork belly, each served with Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, seasonal vegetables and horseradish. 

Desserts include hot chocolate cake, tonka bean and salted caramel baked Alaska or a selection of British cheeses. The wine list matches the food menu: a perfect balance impressive and accessible.